This is the Dolly Parton of notebooks. It’s the Prince of portables. There’s a whole lot to experience in this tiny little package. Whether you’re a gig-hoppin’ DJ or a beard-sportin’, poetry-spittin’ indie-folk singer rocking out alone in your bedroom in nothing but Panda-patterned underwear, this is the machine for you. The Retina-display MacBook Pro offers the perfect combo of portability, speed, and horsepower – plus a sharp display for building all those multitrack, multi-instrument, effect-laden recordings into one transdimensional, earth-shattering performance.

Here’s a riddle: What’s got 64 squares but isn’t lame? …Give up? It’s obviously the Novation LaunchPad Hardware Controller for Ableton Live. The LaunchPad will make your DJ, concert, or studio sessions come to life at the press of a button, literally. It’s got a multicolor 64-button grid for Ableton Live’s Session View and mixer, two fully programmable User Modes, and dedicated scene-launch/function controls. Plus, at less than two pounds, it’s easy to carry with you wherever you go. Hey – if you didn’t get the answer to that riddle right, don’t worry… you’re not a no-brainer. Buying the Novation LaunchPad – that’s a no-brainer.

You know those songs that really get you moving? The perfect song with beats so big they inspired man to invent the subwoofer, and heart-pounding tempo equally suited to the gym or the dance floor? This tiny music machine makes creating all those sounds so easy you’ll wonder why we don’t all have record deals. The 16 colorful, comfortable pads just beg you to bang out a beat on them, and the sounds are simply HUGE! When you need a system to get started producing your music, this is a modern classic for tweaking beats in your studio and rocking crowds on stage. Just don’t blame us if the Maschine makes you crave a bigger pair of speakers in your studio!

So – yesterday you composed the greatest song. Ever. It sounded so good. It made you laugh, it made you cry – and then it made you laugh some more. You wanted to record it – share it generously, for all to hear. Because, really, it was so good, it deserved to be captured by the best audio-recording device. The most pristine, sharp, and faithful recording device to highlight all the – y’know – subtlety and nuance. A recording device with a built-in mic, high-quality preamp for instruments like guitar and bass, and killer analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters that interface seamlessly with software like GarageBand and Logic via USB. Unfortunately, you didn’t have one. Now you can’t even remember how it went, and the world, sadly, remains bereft of your masterpiece. If you want to avoid another such loss, there’s no question that you should own an Apogee ONE interface. We’re all waiting.

Good Golly Miss Molly!  It’s a little keyboard!  iRig Keys from IK Multimedia is a slim portable keyboard with 37 velocity-sensitive keys and MIDI interfaces for your Mac or iOS device.  Garageband? Logic? Whatever you use you’ll be haunting the honky-tonks in no time with this kinetic keyboard. It’s a great portable solution for you, piano man.

iOS, man! Got all these effects on my iPhone, man! What’s that? A stompbox for my iPhone? That sounds sick, man! Precision controls, works with other effects pedals and amps, and all effects in AmpliTube for iOS? Yeah, man!  Gotta have it!

Scarlett’s unibody is sleek and smooth, with just the right curves. Exposing an alluring anodized aluminum case, the Focusrite Scarlett 2 i 2 is not only one of the best sounding USB audio interfaces, it’s one of the best looking too. But, as the old adage goes, looks aren’t everything, so here are the brains to Scarlett’s beauty: two award-winning Focusrite preamps, and two-in/two-out audio channels, live signal monitoring, and plenty of recording headroom to give you a chance to capture your sound in 24-bit, high resolution, 96 kHz audio.

If you’re a musician, playing is your homework. Your classroom, however, is the noisy mad world out there. And the subject of your courses is listening. When you’re traveling around, it’s important to pay attention and be able to take notes in audio and melody at a moments notice. That inspired saxophonist in the subway station? The chaotic beat of a construction team? The stupid little melody you were humming to yourself that suddenly sounds like the beginning of something? Whatever it is, you can capture it with the Zoom H1, a pocket-sized digital recorder with two mics to capture stunning stereo sound, 24-bit/96 kHz audio quality, high quality line-level input, time stamping, and support for microSDHC cards up to 32 GB.

If you’re starting out making music, GarageBand is the best music app to get you started. It’s full of catchy loops and fun MIDI instruments, and capable of importing many more through GarageBand Jam Packs and AU (audio-unit) plugins.  It supports multitrack recordings, line-in instruments, third-party effects, and features a precise beat and sheet music editor you can use to adjust the pitch and rhythm of a recording before and after tracking.  Plus, if you’re starting out playing an instrument GarageBand features video lessons taught by renowned musicians to help you practice!

Ableton is an all-encompassing end-to-end environment for composing, recording, editing and playing music. Ableton not only does it all, it does it all in many different ways, and even though it’s not an Apple product, it’s designed with the same philosophy: it just works.  Ableton’s got several views optimized for handling different tasks as diverse as controlling MIDI equipment and sound output, to staging video clips, controlling light shows, arranging tracks, and sequencing a whole live performance. If you’re a veteran at doing any of these tasks, Ableton applies your knowledge in an easy, intuitive, flexible interface that makes your audio production workflow a thousand times easier and more enjoyable. For a limited time, get 25% off the purchase of Ableton Live Intro, Ableton Live, and Ableton Suite, and get a free upgrade to Ableton 9 when it’s released.